How hard is Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 to play?

Its passages grade from level 8 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 9–16 at level 9.

Is there an easy part of Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 for beginners?

Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–8 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because it carries accidentals outside the key and its chords go beyond simple triads.

What key and time signature is Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 in?

Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 is in E minor, 1 sharp. The engraving on this page is in 2/2 time.

Can I practice Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 online for free?

Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.

Why is Chopin's Prelude in E minor called Suffocation?

The nickname is credited to the pianist Hans von Bülow, who heard a sense of despair in it. Chopin did not give the prelude a title himself.

Was this prelude really played at Chopin's funeral?

Yes. At Chopin's request it was played at his funeral in 1849, along with the B minor prelude from the same set, and Mozart's Requiem was also performed.

Is Chopin's E minor prelude in the public domain?

Yes. Chopin died in 1849 and the prelude has long been in the public domain, so the notes on this page are free to read and play.

How long does it take to learn Chopin's E minor prelude?

The notes themselves are modest, so many players can read through it in a week or two. Making the quiet, even left hand and the long melody sound natural usually takes longer.

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Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) · sheet music

Key E minor
Time 2/2
Levels 8–9
Passages 2

Your turn · both hands

Preparing your passage…

Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French romantic (1810–1849). The reading release has 2 passages from this piece at levels 8–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–8 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 9–16 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4.

Hands together · bars 1–8 level 8
The hardest bars · bars 9–16 level 9

How to play Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4

Tempo:The marking is Largo, so think in long pulses rather than counting every eighth note. If it feels like you are dragging, you are probably close to right.
Left hand:The left hand repeats chords almost constantly, and the chords change by tiny half-step moves. Play them very softly and evenly, and read each new chord as 'which one note moved' instead of a fresh block.
Right hand:The melody sits on long notes that sigh downward. Hold each note for its full value and let the tone fade a little, as though you were singing the line.
Hands together:Keep the left hand quieter than the right so the melody always sounds on top. Practice the left hand alone at a murmuring volume until the chord repeats feel like a steady heartbeat.
Dynamics:Most of the prelude is soft, so the single loud moment has to feel earned. Save your full volume for the climax and drop back immediately afterward.
Pedal:Use the pedal sparingly and change it with each chord so the sliding harmony stays clear instead of smearing.
Reading:Expect many accidentals. Before you play each bar, scan the left-hand chords and name the one note that changed from the previous chord.
Practice:Learn the climax and the final chords as separate short sections, since those are the spots with the biggest leaps and the most accidentals. Then join them to the quiet opening in short phrases.

Common mistakes

Playing the repeated left-hand chords at the same volume as the melody. Fix: Practice the left hand at half the volume you think you need, and listen to the right-hand melody ringing above it.
Rushing the slow melody because it feels empty. Fix: Count the long notes out loud once, then trust the silence and keep the pulse steady.
Staying loud after the climax. Fix: Plan a sudden drop in volume on the first chord after the peak and keep it quiet until the end.
Letting the pedal blur the chord changes. Fix: Change the pedal each time the chord shifts, even if the shift is a single note.

Structure: through-composed melody over a descending chord ostinato

There are no separate themes here. A single melodic idea is stated, interrupted, and restarted, and the left-hand chords keep sinking underneath. The repeat of the idea reaches a fortissimo climax that briefly leaves the descent, then the original motion returns and the piece dies away with a dissonant chord resolving into a plain E minor cadence.

A · Opening statement (E minor): A long, hushed melody in the right hand over repeated chords in the left. Reading here is mostly about following the stepwise line and the small chromatic shifts in each chord.
A' · Restart and climax (E minor): The melody begins again after a pause and this time swells to a loud peak. The leaps and louder chords here are the hardest hand coordination in the piece.
Coda · Dying away (E minor): The chords sink to the final cadence marked smorzando, which means fading out. Watch for the accidentals that color the last chords before the plain E minor ending.

About Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4

Chopin wrote his 24 Preludes between 1835 and 1839, composing much of the set in Paris and finishing it during the winter of 1838-39 that he spent with George Sand at Valldemossa on Mallorca. The set goes through all the major and minor keys, and the fourth prelude is the E minor one, among the shortest and bleakest of the lot.

The music is built from almost nothing: a slow right-hand line that hovers near one pitch and falls by half steps, and a left hand that repeats chords while those chords also slide downward. Hans von Bülow is credited with the nickname Suffocation, for the feeling of despair the piece creates, though Chopin himself gave the prelude no title.

The prelude has a place in Chopin history. At his own request it was played at his funeral in 1849, together with the B minor prelude from the same set, and Mozart's Requiem was sung there as well. It has since been borrowed and reworked by jazz and pop musicians, which is part of why so many people know the tune without knowing the name.

Chopin asked for this prelude and the B minor one (No. 6) to be played at his funeral, where they were heard on the organ.
Radiohead's song Exit Music (For a Film) is based on this prelude, and so is Antonio Carlos Jobim's bossa nova Insensatez.
The right-hand melody behaves almost like a pedal point: it starts on the dominant note B and creeps down chromatically to the tonic E over the whole piece.
The prelude has been used in films including Fatal Attraction, The Pianist, and The Notebook.

Why the first passage is level 8

That passage is level 8 rather than 7 because it carries accidentals outside the key, its chords go beyond simple triads.

Look for stepwise motion in the right hand and chords that change by one note at a time in the left. Accidentals will feel unfamiliar at first, so name each new accidental out loud on your first read.

Questions about Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4

How hard is Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 to play?: Its passages grade from level 8 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 9–16 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 for beginners?: Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–8 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because it carries accidentals outside the key and its chords go beyond simple triads.
What key and time signature is Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 in?: Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 is in E minor, 1 sharp. The engraving on this page is in 2/2 time.
Who composed Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4?: Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French romantic (1810–1849). Chopin wrote his 24 Preludes between 1835 and 1839, composing much of the set in Paris and finishing it during the winter of 1838-39 that he spent with George Sand at Valldemossa on Mallorca.
Can I practice Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 online for free?: Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Why is Chopin's Prelude in E minor called Suffocation?: The nickname is credited to the pianist Hans von Bülow, who heard a sense of despair in it. Chopin did not give the prelude a title himself.
Was this prelude really played at Chopin's funeral?: Yes. At Chopin's request it was played at his funeral in 1849, along with the B minor prelude from the same set, and Mozart's Requiem was also performed.
Is Chopin's E minor prelude in the public domain?: Yes. Chopin died in 1849 and the prelude has long been in the public domain, so the notes on this page are free to read and play.
How long does it take to learn Chopin's E minor prelude?: The notes themselves are modest, so many players can read through it in a week or two. Making the quiet, even left hand and the long melody sound natural usually takes longer.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 2 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 8: bars 1–8 both hands
Level 9: bars 9–16 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (mutopia-ly), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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